


you say it’s your birthday

by mrs_leary (julie)



Category: Merlin (TV) RPF
Genre: Birthday Presents, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2010-10-30
Updated: 2010-10-30
Packaged: 2017-10-28 10:13:11
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,435
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/306798
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/julie/pseuds/mrs_leary
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Colin shows up on Bradley's doorstep, promising him the best birthday present ever - if Bradley can guess what it is.</p>
            </blockquote>





	you say it’s your birthday

♦

‘Mate…’ said Colin. _‘Maaate…’_

‘It’s barely three in the afternoon, Colin,’ Bradley pointed out, ‘and it seems you’re already feeling tired and emotional.’

‘No, ’m not pissed. Just…’ He waved an expansive arm around. ‘Sentimental.’

‘Sentimental?’ Bradley echoed sceptically.

‘It’s your birthday!’

‘Thank you, Captain Obvious, but I am already well aware of the fact.’

‘Your twenty–seventh.’

‘Thank you, yes.’

‘Nah,’ Colin countered with a sloppy grin, ‘don’t be fretting. Twenty–seven is a good age.’

‘You speak from the privileged position of relative youth.’

Colin let a beat go by, determined not to be further diverted from his course. ‘Got you a present,’ he announced in an upbeat way, despite the fact that he had rocked up on Bradley’s doorstep completely empty–handed.

‘Yeah?’

‘Yeah.’ Colin nodded. ‘Best present ever,’ he promised.

Bradley considered him, expression still sceptical, but he leaned in a little, crossed his arms and lifted a hand to his chin, as if pondering this with some gravitas. ‘Really.’

‘Really. I’ve got you what you most want in all the world.’

‘I sincerely doubt it.’

‘The trick is,’ Colin continued, ‘you have to guess what it is and then find it.’

‘I have to guess –’

‘Or find it and then figure it out. Or something like that,’ he added a bit lamely. Colin shrugged. ‘It’s like a party game. Without, uh… the party.’

‘Right,’ Bradley replied rather briskly, straightening up. ‘I’m switching you to strong black coffee. Starting immediately. Come through to the kitchen.’

Colin trailed after him, and leant against the doorjamb watching Bradley bustle around with kettle and cafetiere, a fresh pack of ground coffee and two mugs. ‘Um… So aren’t you gonna guess?’

Bradley cast a glance back at him. And then, absently, while his hands were still busy, he said, ‘Tickets to the match on Sunday. Should be a blinder. You know,’ he added, humouring the guy who’d hardly even cottoned onto Gaelic football as a teenager let alone any other variety since, ‘twenty–two guys kicking a ball back and forth at the Emirates… sixty thousand of us telling ’em very loudly what they’re doing wrong… maybe getting the chance to sing once or twice, when they manage to do something right… that kind of thing…’

‘Yeah, gotcha.’

‘I love the singing,’ Bradley mused. ‘It’s like an ode to joy. Is that a thing? It’s the only time I ever sing out loud.’

‘I’m needing your notebook,’ Colin announced, even as he slid down into a seat at the kitchen table and hauled the computer closer.

‘Sure,’ Bradley said obligingly, coming over to type in his password – not making too big an effort to hide it from Colin, but blushing a little as if conscious of potential embarrassment – then heading back to pour the hot water into the cafetiere, bring it and the mugs back to the table. He dropped into the chair just round the corner from Colin’s. ‘You didn’t actually get me tickets, did you?’

‘Not as such.’

‘What are you doing, then?’

‘Getting you some now. Um, Sunday, you said?’

‘Yeah, but it’s sold out. Has been for _ever_.’

‘That’s why I’m on eBay,’ Colin brightly replied.

‘Oh no…’ Bradley put his head round the edge of the screen, so Colin angled it between them, and they scrolled through the list of possibilities. ‘God, look at the prices… I warned you it was a massive fixture, didn’t I?’

‘’S all right,’ Colin stoutly replied. ‘I’m getting you tickets.’

‘No, Col,’ Bradley murmured when the bidding reached a hundred pounds. He looked earnestly at his friend. ‘This is _really_ not necessary.’

‘It’s your _birthday_.’

‘Yeah, I know, but –’

‘You want them.’

Bradley made the mistake of glancing at the screen again, and emitted a muffled squeak. ‘Not _that_ much!’ And he actually reached over to physically take Colin’s hand in his, lifting it away from the keyboard and the danger of hitting enter.

Colin looked at him, letting his hand rest in Bradley’s, while the clock on the bidding ticked down. ‘Gonna miss out,’ he warned.

‘It’s all right.’

‘Could try for the next lot,’ Colin suggested a bit doubtfully. There was another pair of tickets with only an hour to go before bidding ended, but the seats weren’t as good, and they were already more expensive than the current pair.

‘That’s, um – That’s not what I want most, anyway.’

‘No?’

‘No.’ Bradley was looking self–conscious again. He carefully let go of Colin’s hand, and Colin wrapped it up with the other one now lying passive in his lap.

‘What is it that you're wanting most, Bradley James?’ he said, low. ‘Have another guess.’

‘Um… Well.’ Bradley seemed to be searching the ceiling for an answer. ‘Well, I suppose after another long – _really_ long season of filming… and a few days back home to catch up already… what I most want is to… to go on holiday somewhere. Like, really relax. Yeah?’ Bradley looked at Colin directly again. Brightly. ‘You probably got me tickets on a plane to… oh, like, _Ibiza_ or somewhere, and we’re heading off this very evening.’

‘Ibiza…?’ Colin asked more doubtfully still.

‘Yeah, and we’ll probably be there all week, soaking up the sun, and just… just completely chilling out. Sounds perfect!’

‘You’re mad,’ he advised. But he hauled the notebook closer again, so that it faced him squarely. Started searching for flights.

‘Colin…’

‘And you were fretting over the cost of those footy tickets!’

‘Col –’

‘Nah, don’t worry,’ Colin said, changing his mind and calling up lastminute.com instead. ‘It’s your birthday. Wanted to make it special – and this’ll be pretty special, yeah?’ He let a beat go by. ‘Who d’you wanna take? Dave, I’m thinking. Or Charlie. Yeah, Charlie’s more the Ibiza type. You wanna call him, make sure he’s free?’

 _‘Col!’_ And Bradley not only cried that out sharply, but reached for Colin’s hands again. Both of them. Stopped him entering details of a holiday that neither of them really had any intention of taking.

They sat there for long moments, not looking at each other. Bradley’s hands both curled around both of Colin’s, resting there on the corner of the table between them. One of Bradley’s thumbs kind of stroking at Colin’s knuckles, either nervously or in reassurance.

‘Bradley…’ Colin eventually whispered. ‘What do you…’

‘…most want?’

‘Yeah.’

‘In all the world.’

‘For your birthday.’

Bradley visibly swallowed – from the corner of his eye, Colin could see his adam’s apple bob down and up. But eventually Bradley confessed, ‘A kiss.’ Though he immediately added, ‘Maybe.’

‘Who –’

Bradley turned to glare at him. _‘Don’t you dare ask me who from.’_

‘No. I –’ He knew. Colin knew. ‘Of course, I –’

Colin found that he was already leaning forward – and as if by magic or gravity or some other law of nature, Bradley was leaning forward, too – and it was slow, it was deliberate, it might have been excruciating, but they’d both been waiting so long for this – they each canted their heads a little, getting the angles right, and they weren’t _solemn_ but this was serious, not light–hearted, and –

– and then their lips met, and at first it was clumsy and a bit silly – but they had faith, they didn’t laugh or let it become ridiculous, but instead tried again – and within moments they were learning each other, offering and answering and enjoying, and it was lovely, it was just _lovely_ …

And then after a while, once they were both feeling more confident, once they both knew they had the hang of this now, they gently broke apart, and sat there watching each other with delighted little smiles curling their lips.

‘Well,’ Colin eventually murmured. ‘Happy birthday, then.’

‘Oh, you’re not done yet,’ Bradley advised.

‘No? You said a kiss. I gave you a kiss. And not too shabby a one, if I do say so myself.’

‘I didn’t say a kiss – I said a week’s worth of kisses.’

Colin tried not to grin, and failed badly. ‘Oh, did you indeed? And all of them administered in Ibiza, I suppose…’

‘Not too fussed about that,’ Bradley confided. ‘Administered in London will do fine. As long as they’re all as unshabby as that one. Cos, you know – then it won’t matter, will it?’

‘What won’t?’

‘Where we are. Why would we give a toss? If they’re all like that…’

‘Oh…’ Colin smiled, and began pushing in close to give Bradley a second kiss, and then a third. ‘No, I guess it won’t matter at all,’ he observed.

‘Best present ever,’ Bradley managed to mumble in between.

♦


End file.
